


Serendipity

by Zynphera



Category: Monsta X (Band)
Genre: I wanted to post a fluffy oneshot as my first hyungwonho story but oh well, M/M, have this long ass story, kingdoms AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-17
Updated: 2016-01-17
Packaged: 2018-05-14 11:25:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,310
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5741932
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zynphera/pseuds/Zynphera
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In the ever-expanding Chae empire, prince Hyungwon meets skilled thief Wonho who steals much more than just Hyungwon's crown.<br/></p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> hey I've been lurking archive for awhile now, reading all and any Hyungwonho fanfiction  
> and I finally decided to post some of my own  
> I wanted my first to be a short and fluffy oneshot but I already had a Hyungwonho story in the works so I figured "why not post it here as well?"  
> I'm extreme hwh trash and I'm sorry if this story drags on forever haha

_Alright Wonho. All you have to do is stealthily snatch the prince's crown, get the heck out of there, give the crown to the boss and roll in riches. No pressure._ Wonho thinks to himself as his guides his horse to the outer castle walls. The kingdom of Chae was filled with diverse lands, from running streams and luscious forests to dry, lifeless deserts. However, most of the population was centered inside and outside the castle walls. Around the outside was usually where the poor farmers worked away, spending their day under the hot sun and inside the walls was where the much wealthier people or powerful associates of the Chae family lived. Right in the very center of the city inside the walls was where the Chae castle resided. Of course, in order to keep their power, the King had appointed some friends to become a "minor-ruler" over some of the lands they had conquered. 

 

Wonho himself had never been inside these walls in particular, or at least he didn't think so, but he had been inside another kingdom's a long, long time ago. He felt hatred rise up inside of him just looking at the outer walls. He'd never forgive the Chae empire for what they did. If assassinating the prince wouldn't cause enough fear and chaos to erupt inside the walls, making it impossible to steal more riches from the wealthy, Wonho would do it. Maybe then he'd be able to make king and queen Chae feel what he had felt so many years ago, _how it felt to lose a loved one_.

 

Sick of remembering bad memories, Wonho pulls his hood over his head to conceal his face and mounts his horse. Taking a small bag with him, his hands grasp a syringe filled with a poisonous injection. It was late at night, maybe 3 am, and knowing that most guards were too lazy to take night shifts, he only prepared one injection. And sure enough when he strolls up to the gate, there was only one guard standing watch. 

 

"Halt! Who goes there?" the guard says, a little too energetically for Wonho's taste.  _It's 3 am, is he not tired?_   Wonho remarks to himself but ignores the guard's question.

 

"I need you to open the gate. Urgent matters from the Son kingdom," Wonho flatly lies. He doesn't have to worry about sounding believable since he had become so used to lying.

 

"You don't look much like a messenger," the guard squints at Wonho in the darkness, trying to analyze Wonho, "besides, you must be very wealthy if you work as a messenger for the Son kingdom. Look, I work these awful shifts and get payed so very little, how about you split me half of your pay from today and then I'll raise the gate?"

 

Seizing the opportunity, Wonho grins under his hood and informs the guard that he'll pay up. The guard patiently sticks his hand out, waiting for the payment but really, all he gets paid is his own death as Wonho plunges the needle in and quickly injects all of the poison encased inside. The guard drops dead, and somewhat large key falls out of the guard's pocket.  _Jackpot. One of the many keys that the guards have to the Chae kingdom. I could get so much if I trade this off, or if I just keep the key and steal from the Chae kingdom._  Wonho ecstatically thinks to himself, and unlocks the heavy gate. Once inside, he locks the gate again as he didn't want other thieves disturbing his task.

 

Stealthily staying in the shadows, Wonho finally reaches the castle and grabs his grappling hook out of his bag. Using his strong muscles to throw it into the air, as he watches as it hooks onto an open window of the castle. Wondering to himself what type of idiot would ever leave an open window at night, he grabs the rope dangling from the hook and begins to climb the stone walls, muscles burning as he reaches the open window. Once he glances inside, he gasps loudly because right there in front of him, was the most _stunning_ man he had ever seen in his whole life. Oh yeah, and the crown he was supposed to steal, but _that enchanting man though._ In normal circumstances, Wonho would have hit himself over and over for making such a loud noise since he usually makes none during missions, but the sleeping beauty just slept right through Wonho's squeal.

 

Climbing inside the room to make sure he couldn't actually fall over from the overwhelming handsomeness in front of him, he quietly grabs the ornate golden crown, filled with diamonds, rubies, and emeralds of all sorts, and stuffs it in his bag. Turning to leave, Wonho steals one more glance at the man, who had the moonlight shining perfectly on his face. _This must be the prince. Nobody told me he was such an angel though. If a different reality existed where I wasn’t a wanted criminal and he wasn’t a prince of the empire I hate, I would marry him on the spot. God, he’s cute._ Wonho thinks to himself, not realizing how much time he spends staring and how close he was to prince Hyungwon’s face until Hyungwon rolls over, nose touching Wonho’s nose. Groggily, Hyungwon rubs his eyes.

 

Normally Hyungwon was a heavy sleeper who only woke up when he himself chose to, but as if it was fate that Wonho should be caught stealing Hyungwon’s crown by Hyungwon himself, it certainly seemed so. Snapping back to reality, Wonho starts to panic and quickly dashes to the window, just in time for Hyungwon to sleepily look up, moonlight still shining in Hyungwon’s direction. All Hyungwon sees is a dark figure leaping out his window.

 

“Must be a dream, time to go back to sleep…” Hyungwon mumbles, and goes back to his slumber.


	2. Chapter 2

It isn't until Hyungwon finally wakes up the next day that he realizes something is off. Tiredly rubbing his eyes, he (literally) rolls out of bed and walks to his rather-large bathroom, but what else would you expect from a prince? Really, he didn't need to get ready for the day by himself since his parents offered him servants and maids that would do anything he ordered, but he personally felt uncomfortable having someone else brush his teeth and wash his face for him, since they were such simple tasks. Besides, he didn't want random people touching his luscious hair, which he personally combed, styled, and took care of himself. Once he finishes, he strolls back into his grand bedroom to his closet filled with all the finest silks and cotton across the land. Being a prince, he usually had to wear suits everyday, which caused Hyungwon to sometimes long to be a normal civilian who could just wear normal t-shirts. Once he finally picks out an outfit, a rather nice red suit, he walks back to his bedside table.

 

"Crap."

 

Hyungwon only manages to mutter that one word, as he stares in shock. Where was his crown that he always placed there every night? And then, last night's events came back to him. A random figure in the shadow's face right up to his, and then the mysterious man leaping right out his open window.

 

_Oh. Open window. Whoops._  He nonchalantly thinks to himself, but then starts slapping himself over and over again.  _Stupid, stupid, stupid, how could you let a thief steal your crown so easily?! You're so dead Chae Hyungwon, mother and father are going to flip the whole castle over in anger once they find out!_ he angrily thinks to himself over and over again, and sits down on his bed, knees to his chest. After taking a few minutes to compose himself, he decides that the right thing to do was to just tell his parents, and face their wrath. 

 

Taking a deep breath, Hyungwon opens his door and walks down a spiral staircase to the main dining hall. As soon as he enters, his presence causes many heads to turn to look at him. As expected from such a sleepyhead, Hyungwon had missed breakfast and had woken up just in time for lunch.

 

"Chae Hyungwon, if you want to be the future ruler of this powerful empire, you need to stop disobeying your mother and I's orders. Tardiness will not be tolerated." King Chae scolds Hyungwon, and Hyungwon tries his best to keep a straight face through it. He simply tells his father he will try his best to get up more early, even though he knows he won't, because he doesn't need to anger his father more before he tells him he's lost his crown. As he sits himself down at his chair in the dining hall, servants scramble to serve a variety of deliciously cooked meals.

 

As soon as Hyungwon decides it's the right time to tell his parents that he had his crown stolen, a messenger worriedly rushes over to his father and whispers something in his ear, and Hyungwon watches as his father's noble face turns into a nasty scowl. He overhears his father angrily say back words like, "poisoned... night... guard... dead..." and Hyungwon's gut wrenches in horror. So not only was his crown stolen last night, but one of the guards was also killed? The inner city was supposed to be one of the most protected and safe places in the entire empire and yet... could that one thief he barely saw outsmart the supposedly highly trained, skilled guards? Of course, night duty was rarely wanted so there was probably only one guard. Either way, Hyungwon suddenly loses the courage to confess his stolen crown after seeing his father's anger and decides to just quickly finish his meal and head off to the garden. He just needed to get away.

As if she had read his mind, Queen Chae looks Hyungwon in the eye and says, "If you're thinking of going to the garden, then stop. You have to stay in the castle and do your prince duties, remember?"

Hyungwon tries to resist the urge to groan. Really, prince duties were the most boring thing ever. It was learning about how "great, mighty and holy" his parent's empire was through learning the history of how they conquered each piece of land, learning how to make "smart decisions for the future of the empire", and "how to utilize servants and maids wisely". He guessed his parents kept him locked up in the castle most of his life because they were scared of assassins, but there really wasn't any need to fear any security threats, at least, not until what happened last night.

Once Hyungwon is in his classes, he ends up daydreaming and zoning out, ignoring what the historian was trying to teach him. His mind started to wander off, wondering what it'd be like to explore the world, see oceans and forests... and then he remembers a face in the dark, just a few centimetres away from his, and his heart starts to beat quicker. "So it wasn't a dream after all," he mumbles, and the historian glares at him.

"Of course these events aren't dreams, this is history!" the historian lectures him, before going back to droning on about history, not noticing how Hyungwon wasn't even paying attention. Hyungwon thinks about how it was too dark to make out a face and how wrong it is to feel attracted to a thief, a faceless one at that, but he can't deny that he did felt attracted to the person.  _This is irrational, I need to stop._ he thinks to himself, but ends up daydreaming and wondering about the stranger who broke in the entire day.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I seem to have issues staying in the same tense e.e sorry

About a week had passed since Hyungwon had his crown stolen, and his parents were starting to get a bit suspicious. At first they were too caught up with increasing the security and trying to convince any guard to take the night shift, but once things had settled down they began questioning why Hyungwon wasn't wearing his crown. Hyungwon would always make up excuses like how he didn’t feel like ruining his perfect hair by wearing the crown, the crown was too heavy and too much of a hassle to wear everyday if he wasn’t going to step a foot outside of the castle, etc.

 

As another distraction to keep his parents off his back, Hyungwon kept suggesting that he could do the night shift since no guards wanted to take it. He kept his reasons of why he wanted to be a night guard to himself, but may or may not include the chance of meeting the mysterious dark figure, otherwise known as the thief. His parents of course thought Hyungwon had gone mad and lectured him multiple times on how “every person who opposed their beautiful empire wanted his head served on a silver platter”. Hyungwon didn't even know why he tried.

 

Actually, he felt confused himself when he tried. Was it the fact that the stranger, while Hyungwon couldn't tell if they had a beautiful face or not, had an aura of attractiveness to Hyungwon? Or maybe it was just the fact that the stranger smelled like roses, his favorite flower. Oh wait-flowers!

 

Maybe the thief was their very own gardener and poisoned the guard as an alibi! Ever since he was little, prince Chae Hyungwon would secretly visit the royal gardens as a way of escaping all his princely duties and to have some time to himself. Of course naturally as a result, he became good friends with the gardener, Changkyun. Really though, he couldn't believe or even begin to imagine his good friend of many years committing the crime. Or maybe the guard bring poisoned and the theft were separate crimes altogether, but it was too much of a coincidence to ignore. Besides, even if Changkyun didn't do it, maybe he knew something.

 

And so, when he had his "private study time" which was supposed to be used for completing assignments and studying for upcoming tests assigned to him by various personal teachers in the security of Hyungwon's own study, he does what he pretty much always does and slips away through a secret passageway which he discovered when he was a little boy. When he first moved into the new castle (as he used to live in a smaller castle when their empire wasn't as huge), his parents were less strict and allowed him to roam freely throughout the castle at first as long as he didn’t get into trouble, which was how he discovered a strange door in the back of his deep closet, one of the many doors in the secret passageway really. He honestly doubted that his parents or anyone really knew of the secret passages. After all, they were always too busy to even give an ounce of care and attention to their son, so Hyungwon figured they wouldn’t have the time to explore every inch of the castle. It was strange, the castle wasn't custom-made for them, it was already pre-existing when they moved in. Of course his parents expanded the castle everysoften, but Hyungwon always found it strange when his parents had to look around a bit when they moved in. Their old castle was built specifically for them and they even had the blueprint, but his parents didn't seen know much about a few parts of the castle. When Hyungwon asked his parents if the castle had belonged to a different empire, now abandoned, his parents would always chastise him on even suggesting that the castle wasn't built for them specifically.

 

Anyways, Hyungwon navigated through the tight secret passageway, using the dim light of an oil lamp to guide him. After taking a few turns to the right and a turn to his left, his hand clasps around an old, familiar antique doorknob. Turning the doorknob, the heavy wooden door creaks open slowly. Cautiously looking around, he steps out when the coast is clear, though the can't take that many steps since his face is just millimeters away from a rose bush wall once he steps out. One of the reasons why nobody ever noticed the secret entrance was probably due to the tall rose bushes that covered the entire side of the castle. Inching his skinny body along the castle walls, he finally finds the tiny opening through the rose bush wall and steps through the hole to stroll out to a place deep inside the castle gardens.

 

Taking in a deep breath of fresh air, he lies down on a stretch of grass surrounded by roses, shaded by a towering oak tree. After closing his eyes and relaxing for a bit, he finally wills himself to get up and do what he originally came here to do, _to get answers from Changkyun without getting caught_. Strolling through the vast gardens in solitude, he squints and finally spots a tiny figure trimming a bush into the face of his father. Quietly sneaking up to him, Hyungwon wraps his arms around the tiny figure and the shorter man jumps until he realizes it’s just Hyungwon.

“Hyungwon, what brings you here today? Did you miss me, or did you just get bored of your studies again?” Changkyun teases the elder, a cheeky grin on his face.

“You wish. Well actually, it’s more of a serious issue that brings me here today,” Hyungwon says jokingly at first, but face turning serious. Changkyun suddenly fills with worry and Changkyun nods, understanding the seriousness of the situation.

“Ah, you want more privacy right? Follow me, the garden is rarely used nowadays besides when your mother, the Queen, throws a royal garden party with some of the nobles but it’s better safe than sorry I see,” Changkyun tells Hyungwon, grabbing his hand and leading him to a more isolated, but still beautiful part of the gardens.

The entire time, a silent figure moves along the shadows, following them. It’s of course none other than Wonho, the Chae Empire’s most skilled and feared criminal. Unbeknownst to Hyungwon, Wonho had started to visit a few days ago. While Wonho wasn’t as rich as a noble living inside the kingdom walls, he was still very well paid and rolling in riches after turning in Hyungwon’s crown to Wonho’s master. Because of this, he was able to buy some more advanced, high tech equipment that would greatly assist him on his future heists and assassination missions, or rather, visiting Prince Hyungwon. Wonho wasn’t sure why he was trying to visit Hyungwon instead of accepting stealing or murdering missions, especially after how Wonho swore he’d murder the son of King and Queen Chae if he ever got the chance, but all sinister thoughts were definitely forgotten the moment he laid his eyes on the delicate prince. Wonho couldn’t help it, he felt _entranced_ by the handsome prince.

Wonho had been near Hyungwon’s windowsill when he noticed Hyungwon slipping into his closet and not returning, causing Wonho to investigate for himself and chase after Hyungwon in the passageways. However, being in the passageways seemed to have opened up a repressed, forgotten memory of Wonho’s. Maybe that night he stole Hyungwon’s crown wasn’t the first time he had been inside the castle.

Following Changkyun and Hyungwon, Wonho felt an intense burning feeling of jealousy. He didn't like the way this younger gardener boy smiled or held hands with Hyungwon, and for the first time in forever, felt somewhat insecure. But then the memory of Hyungwon peacefully resting under the oak tree, a leaf gently falling upon him, made Wonho smile. Curiosity was filling Wonho as he hid near some bushes nearby, attempting to hear what Hyungwon had to say to Changkyun.


End file.
